Title: Some New Start

Rating: Pg-13

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Summary: Instead of moving to Australia, Jessie and her family move to Newport Beach, where she meets Katie Cooper…

A/N: Jessie never met Katie in season 3, but she did date Tad. And she does not know that she is gay. This is basically the Jessie/Katie story, but it a different setting.

When Rick and Lily first broke the news about moving to California, Jessie had been excited and somewhat relieved. She did not fit in at her high school in Evanston, everybody knew her past, her struggle with anorexia, her mom's accident; moving would be her chance to start over, to have the weight of her life lifted off her shoulders. However, the moment Jessie stepped off the airplane, she felt the familiar anxiety spread through her veins; she was completely out of her league in Newport Beach.

It was like stepping into an episode of Baywatch. Everyone and everything here was perfect. Perfect girls with perfect bodies roamed the sidewalks half naked. Large houses and nice cars were the only thing in view.

"This is so nice!" muttered Eli, who was sitting next to Jessie in the back seat of the car. He was eying a couple of girls waiting at the crosswalk up ahead.

Jessie rolled her eyes, but stared at them as well. They were beautiful; they were everything Jessie was not. She sighed, leaned her head against the headrest, and shut her eyes. Perhaps she should have remained in Evanston with her mother. Karen was still recovering from her accident, even after most of the summer; she was still using a cane. But she had Henry to help her. She did not need Jessie anymore...Which was another reason she decided to move. Karen had encouraged her, told her not to stay behind only because she was still in recovery, that she would be just fine because Henry was there for her.

"You okay, Jess?" Lily asked. She had seen Jessie lean back with her eyes closed.

On Jessie's other side, she felt Zoe shift and knew instinctively that the younger girl was looking at her. Eli too.

"I'm fine. Just tired is all," she replied, opening her eyes and smiling to reassure Lily. It wasn't a complete lie; she was quite a bit tired. Illinois was two hours ahead, which meant it was ten o'clock over there now. Granted, it wasn't that late, but the flight seemed to have worn her out.

"Oh, okay. You'll be able to sleep once we get to the new house. I called Rick when we got off the plane and he says everyone's bedrooms are all ready."

"Cool," Eli said.

"So Rick's company just gave him house?" Grace questioned.

"Not exactly," Lily responded. "They're lending us one of their houses while we're here. Once we leave, the house goes back to the firm."

"Is the house nice?" Zoe asked. She had been pretty quiet for most of the car ride. She, like Jessie, was also tired, but it was also way past her bedtime…in Evanston anyway.

Lily hesitated for a moment. From her position in the middle, Jessie saw her grip the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary. "It's much nicer than what we're used to. I haven't seen it yet, but Rick and Judy both say that it's beautiful."

"Are we almost there?"

"Yeah…" she glanced at the GPS attached to the front wind-shield. "…we'll be there in another couple of minutes."

"This is so cool!" Grace exclaimed. "I can't wait to see it!" She sat up straight in the passenger seat, bending forward slightly to get a better look out of the window, as though she wanted to be the first one to see the house.

"We're going to be living there for the next three years, Grace. Plenty of time to see it." If Jessie hadn't sounded so irritated when she said it, the others would have thought she was just messing around with Grace.

Grace turned around in her seat and glared at Jessie. She opened her mouth to retaliate, but Lily cut her off.

"Grace," she sternly warned.

Jessie didn't look, but she could feel Lily glancing at her through the rear view mirror. Grace threw her a dirty look before turning back around.

Jessie knew that she shouldn't be taking her bad mood out on her step-sister. However, there was no other way to release it. She could not help thinking that she had made a huge mistake moving here, and was worrying what the consequences would be from that mistake. Would she be the skinny, unattractive loser that the type of people here would make fun of? Was it the best idea to enroll her in the elite private school, Harbor High school, right after moving? Would she adjust well, or would she feel out of place once again? Jessie was scared of everything that was to come. She did not want to deal with any of it. The only way she knew how to make herself feel better was to bitch at Grace. The worst part was that she didn't even feel bad about it.

"We're here," Lily announced.

They couldn't see anything at first, but then they noticed that they had to drive up a long driveway to get to the house. The house was huge, and absolutely gorgeous. The three story mansion was surrounded by trees and plants.

Jessie was the last one out of the car. She was still looking at the house in wonder; it was much nicer than anything she had lived in before and much nicer than anything she would probably live in ever again. The pure beauty of her new home was enough to make her forget about her worries…

"Jessie!" Rick scooped his daughter into her arms and lifted her off the ground into a tight hug. "It's so good to see you!"

Jessie hugged her father back and smiled at him when he set her down. "It's good to see you too."

Rick had been in Newport for almost a month now preparing the new house, and already starting on the big hotel project. After Karen had insisted Jessie go to California, she found herself missing her father more and more.

"C'mon and I'll give you guys a tour of the house. Then we can go out to dinner! Judy and Sam are out back by the pool."

"We have a pool?" Zoe shrieked.

Everyone was so excited to be here; Jessie felt left out that she wasn't just as excited. She tried to want to be there, she really did, but she missed her home, she missed the life she was used to. This was supposed to be an escape from that life, but everything here seemed so…fake.

"Jessie, c'mon," Rick called to her from the front door. He gestured for her to go inside with them. Everyone looked at her expectantly from the front driveway; the smiles on their faces were huge and they seemed impatient to go inside.

"Actually, Dad, I think I'm just going to stay out here and catch some fresh air. I'm feeling kind of sick," she lied. In all honesty, she just didn't want to be near them and their enthusiasm.

Concern flashed in Rick's eyes and he took a couple of steps towards her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she responded. "Go on inside, I'll catch up later." She began walking down the driveway away from her family, but still kept looking at them. "I'm just going to go for a short walk."

He stared at her for another moment, but she had already turned her back on him. "Okay…" he conceded. "Just don't go too far."

"Sure, Dad!"

Jessie stopped walking once she reached the end of the driveway. She had not planned on going any farther than that. She did not want to go on an actual walk and get lost.

The sky had grown dark by then. Stars twinkled in the clear night sky and Jessie crossed her arms, trying to keep warm in the chilly night air. All she wanted was to lie down and only wake up when everything was okay again; when she was back in her old life, back with her mother, back with her boyfriend, Tad, who she had never really liked, but who had been such a nice guy to her. It would take a while to get used to this new place, she knew that, and she hoped that she could make some good friends this school year because she knew she would be attending this high school for the next three years. Friends were nice, and she lacked them back in Evanston.

"Who're you?"

Jessie twitched, startled when she realized that someone she did not know was actually talking to her. She looked up and noticed a beautiful brunette girl standing on the next driveway over. The girl was looking at her curiously.

"I'm Jessie," she responded shyly. The fact that this girl was talking to her baffled Jessie; the fact that this girl was gorgeous unnerved Jessie. Another perfect girl in this perfect place, Jessie thought.

"Jessie…Jessie," she repeated quietly, no longer looking at her, but at the ground in front her. "So what're you doing here, Jessie?" She looked at her again, taking a few steps closer so now she was only a few feet away from Jessie.

"Um, my dad got a job here…I'm moving into this house right here." Jessie gestured at her new home. "My dad's already been a while, but we're only moving in now…"

"You're Rick Sammler's daughter? He's mentioned you before…" The girl tilted her head and smiled.

Jessie gulped nervously and prayed that her father hadn't said anything embarrassing about her to this girl.

"Jessie!"

Both Jessie and the brunette girl looked over to see a figure jogging down the driveway. A wet Judy stood before them with a t-shirt on, but no shorts covering her bikini bottoms.

"Hi, Katie." Judy smiled at the girl.

Katie…Jessie thought. She decided that the name suited her.

"Hey, Judy. I was just meeting your step-niece," Katie unnecessarily explained.

"Jessie, this is Katie Cooper," Judy introduced. "She lives next door."

Jessie smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

Katie grinned. "Likewise."

"So, we're all excited about your fashion show fund-raiser tomorrow night," Judy spoke.

"Really? You are." Katie looked skeptical.

Judy blinked and took a deep breath, running her hand through her sopping hair. "Not really."

Jessie snickered and hid her grin behind her hand. So Katie was organizing a fashion show…god this girl was so out of her league. She decided then and there to give up any ideas she had about ever being friends with this girl. Sure, she was nice, but there was more to a person than how nice they were. She decided it was hopeless to even try. Grace would probably get along with her, she thought.

Katie laughed at Judy's bit of honesty. Apparently she had expected that kind of answer because she did not seem upset.

A large pick-up truck pulled up to the curb. Inside was a very pissy looking brunette girl. She rolled down the window and called to Katie, "C'mon! Let's go!"

Katie smiled and rolled her eyes, holding up her index finger to the girl that indicated she needed another second. She turned to Jessie. "Hey, you should come by, check it out. If you don't have other plans already..." she invited. "I'll see you later."

"Bye…"

Katie, with her long legs, easily climbed into the truck. The brunette already inside gave her a sexy smile, which Jessie found kind of strange. She then stared Jessie up and down; Jessie shifted uncomfortable under her gaze. To her dismay, the brunette scowled.

"Who's the kid?" she asked Katie.

They drove away before Jessie could hear Katie's response. She was nervous about the impression that she might have made on her. Kid? They had to be close to the same age, though Jessie had a feeling that Katie was closer to Grace's age. She was not that excited about the fashion show. How did she know if she was only invited out of politeness, rather than a sincere invitation? Girls like that did not hang out with girls like her, that was for sure.

"C'mon, Jess. Let's go inside. Your dad wants you to freshen up before we go out to dinner." Judy led her back up the way they came and inside her new home.

Jessie spent most of the next day inside, unpacking the infinite boxes in her new bedroom. The room was bigger than her room in Karen's house, but smaller then the attic in Lily's house. The walls were painted a soft shade of lavender; Rick had asked Jessie what color she wanted her room to be and she had said a light purple. She liked it. She was unsure of how much she was going to like living there, but at least her new room was nice. Like the attic, she was isolated from everyone else; she had her own space, her own escape.

At four o'clock, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Jessie was lying on her bed listening to her music when the knock came; she heard it through her headphones and told the person to come inside.

"Hey, Dad," she greeted, pulling off her headphones and pressing the pause button on her iPod. "What's up?"

Rick slowly entered the room, leaving the door open behind him and surveying what Jessie had managed to accomplish within seven hours. "I like what you've done with your room," he approved, and when he noticed the arrangement of posters on the walls, he said, "Where'd you get all these movie posters?"

"Eli's had them for a while. One of his exes worked a movie theater and she got them for him. He gave them to me a while back but I couldn't find anywhere to put them," Jessie explained.

"This one's…uh, this one's interesting," Rick stumbled slightly, his eyes on the large Imagine Me & You poster. "Eli had this one too?"

Jessie noticed which poster Rick was looking at and chuckled. "Yeah, he gave me that one too. It's a funny movie, Dad, you should try watching it."

"What's it about?"

He sat at the edge of the bed right next to her. Jessie pulled her legs against her chest, unconsciously attempting to put some distance between her and Rick.

"This one woman gets married to this guy and another woman ends up falling for her. It's a romantic-comedy," Jessie said.

"Ah…I know you like those kinds…"

"So what's up?" she repeated her earlier question.

"Judy told me you were invited to go to the fashion show tonight," he began.

Jessie opened her mouth, about to say something, but could not figure out what to say, so she opted for sighing instead. After a moment, she finally said, "Yeah, Katie invited me…" she trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh, so you've met Katie?"

"Yeah…"

Rick paused. "She's a nice girl."

"Seemed like…" Jessie didn't know what else to say. She had not told anyone about the invite because she did not want to go and knew if Rick knew about it then he would force her to go. She was not wrong.

"We're going to leave here at seven," Rick stated.

"What? Dad, I'm not even sure if I want to go," Jessie protested.

"You have to go, Jessie. Katie invited you. And as new members to this community, we're all going anyway. Grace, Eli, even Zoe," he said. His tone was not stern; however, Jessie knew she had no choice.

She rubbed the side of her forehead with her index and middle finger. "Okay, Dad, whatever. I'll be ready by seven.""Okay." He stood up and straightened out his jeans. "This'll be a great opportunity for you to make some new friends," he stated positively. "There's going to be tons of people there your age."

Jessie did not look at him or respond. As a girl who was painfully shy, she did not appreciate being thrust into this type of radical social environment. These people probably wouldn't even like her. However, it was worth a shot to at least try. She felt better knowing that Grace and Eli were going to be there; now she had an excuse not to talk to anybody she didn't know.

Never, in a million years, did Jessie think that the adults of Newport needed to be feared as well as the teenagers. She knew immediately that she was extremely out of place at the party. All everyone cared about, adult or kid, was money. Everything depended on money, status rank, popularity; everything depended on money and looks. Jessie was not used to this. Money did not matter nearly as much in Illinois.

They had arrived shortly after seven o'clock and almost immediately Jessie had been stopped. Countless times she heard the words, "You're the new architect's daughter, aren't you? From Chicago?"

An hour later, she had managed to escape the eye of any Newport socialite, having met all of them it seemed like. She noticed a curly-haired brunette boy standing by himself at the refreshments table. A few thick armed jocks were near him. Jessie was thirsty, but she wanted to wait until those boys left to get something to drink. She knew she would feel uncomfortable if they were there. She already felt uncomfortable and hoped that they would not notice her.

"Hey, Luke, what's up?" said the curly-haired boy.

A guy with thick blond hair approached him. He was very friendly when he said, "Hey! Yeah." He leaned closer to the other boy. "Suck it queer."

The other boys howled with laughter and walked away. Luke noticed Jessie while he was walking away and she looked away, afraid of what he might say to her. Because she wasn't looking at him, she didn't notice the, "you're hot," look he threw her way.

"My vacation was great too. Thank you for asking about it," said the brunette boy conversationally.

"What a jackass," Jessie muttered.

"Yes, well…welcome to Newport," said the boy.

Jessie laughed and approached him. "I think I like Evanston better," she said.

He bounced his head from side to side for a moment or two before saying, "Yeah, I have no idea where that is."

"It's in Illinois. Near Chicago."

"Ooooh," he said, light dawning in his eyes. "You're the new architect's daughter, huh?"

Jessie frowned and poured herself a glass of punch. "How does everyone know that?" She wasn't really talking to anyone in particular when she said that, but was more just curious. The sip of punch she took ended back inside the cup when she noticed the extra alcohol flavoring in the drink.

"It's big news when new people move into the elite parts of Newport Beach…that and I think it was my mom who hired those two architects to build hotels."

"Oh?"

"Yep…I'm Seth." He held out his hand.

"Jessie." She put her cup back on the table and shook his hand.

"So when did you…oh, Summer's right over there. Look!"

Jessie was a little startled by his change of pace and, wondering who Summer was, made to turn around, before Seth exclaimed, "I'm sorry, don't look. Don't look. But I mean you can look, but don't look like you're looking!"

"You got it," she grinned. The first thing she noticed when she turned around was Katie standing on the other side of a fountain. Next to Katie was a short brunette girl, who Jessie assumed was Summer. Katie noticed her right away. She smiled and waved at Jessie, and Jessie returned the friendly gesture. She had been wondering when she would see Katie, since it was her fashion show after all.

"Oh my god, she's looking at me…she's looking at me!" Seth exclaimed nervously. "Um, I'm going to go, uh, sit. Away from here."

"Relax, Seth," Jessie said, turning to him, but he was already walking off to find a chair. He kept glancing back at Summer, but both her and Katie were gazing at Jessie. She felt unnerved by it, but thankfully, they were led away by an older woman. Jessie went and sat next to Seth at a table with several kids, including Zoe. She caught Zoe's eye and grinned.

"Having fun?" she asked her younger step-sister.

"Much!" Jessie frowned; Zoe seemed sincere.

"I think it's starting now," Seth muttered to her.

"Fantastic!" Sarcasm oozed from Jessie's voice; however, she turned her attention to the stage and clapped along with the rest of the crowd when she saw Katie standing in the middle of the stage, looking beautiful in her designer dress.

The applause died down when Katie began to speak. "Thank you, thank you. Thank you all so much for coming. Every year we put on a fashion show to raise money for the battered woman's shelter. It's such a good cause, you guys and we couldn't do any of it without your support and the support of Fashion Island and all their great stores. All right, enjoy the show!"

The show by itself was intensely dull, and Jessie found herself glancing at her watch every couple of minutes. Her attention was peaked when she saw Katie come on stage. Her own fashion show, of course she's going to be in it, she thought. She clapped along with everyone else and became flustered when Katie caught her eye and smiled at her. Jessie smiled back, blushing the whole time. Why do I want to get to know her so badly? She had no idea why the other girl made her feel so awkward, but so good at the same time.

After the show had finished, Jessie left Seth to go find Katie so she could congratulate her on the good job she did with the evening. That's a legitimate excuse to talk to her…right? She thought so.

Unfortunately, Jessie couldn't find her anywhere; she had checked backstage, by the refreshments, and then by the bar, and couldn't find her. Sighing disappointedly, she made her way through to the front of the house, intending on walking home early. Nobody would miss her.

"Jess! Hey, Jessie!"

Jessie turned around and saw that Katie, now dressed in street clothes, was weaving in and out of small clumps of conversing people to get to her.

"Hey!" she said enthusiastically.

"Hi, Katie. You did an awesome job with the fashion show," Jessie complemented shyly.

"Thanks," she grinned. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about—well not that exactly, but…okay, so my friend Holly's parents are letting us use their beach house as a gift for the hard work we put into the show tonight," Katie babbled excitedly.

She's too cute, Jessie thought, the left side of her mouth curling into a half-smile.

"And I wanted to know if you wanted to come…"

"Oh, um…" This caught her off guard; it wasn't what she had been expecting the other girl to say…granted she really had no idea to expect from her at all.

"Say yes! It'll be fun…"

Katie looked so hopeful, but Jessie knew she couldn't go. Her father would never let her. "I can't, I'm sorry," she said regretfully.

"Oh." Katie looked disappointed. "Okay then…how come?"

"My dad would never go for it." Jessie mentally clapped her hand against her forehead, aware of how completely lame she had just sounded. My dad would never go for it? God, she probably thinks I'm some daddy's girl loser.

"Oh. That's cool then. Maybe some other time?" She looked hopeful again.

"Yeah, definitely!"

"Awesome!" Katie began slowly backing away towards the large pick-up from the night before. Jessie was able to see the brunette girl from last night in the driver's seat. Her eyes were on Katie, and it bothered Jessie for some reason. She had yet to meet the brunette girl, but already she did not like her. "I'll see you around, Jess!"

"Bye…"

Katie offered her one last smile before climbing into the truck. Jessie watched it go longingly; she really wished she could have gone.